Crates for housing produce are well known in the industry. Such crates, or containers, typically comprise a bottom, opposed end and side walls, and a lid. The lids of the containers may be hinged to a side wall of the container or may be detached lids which are placed on the container when in use. It is desirable to minimize the space required for storing the containers. One method of storing such containers to conserve space is to stack them in a nesting manner one within another. When containers with detached lids are stacked in such a manner the lids must be removed in order to allow the containers to properly nest. The lids therefore are prone to being misplaced and present additional storage and handling problems. Containers with hinged lids may not have enough clearance when the lids are opened to be able to nest containers, and the hinged lids may present other problems when attempting to nest containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,996 to Lang-Ree et. al. shows a container with a split lid, each section of the lid being hinged to an upper edge of a side wall of the container. When nesting multiple containers of this type, the lids remain hinged to the side walls and hang down along outer surfaces of the side walls which increases the floor space required to store the containers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,915 to Kalin shows a container having a detached lid which is mountable at several locations along the side walls of the container. The lid of this container cannot be stored in the bottom of the container when multiple containers are nested.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,293 to Ackerman et. al. shows a container having a detached lid which also cannot be stored in the bottom of the container.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a reusable produce crate which reduces or wholly overcomes some or all of the aforesaid difficulties inherent in prior known devices. Particular objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, those who are knowledgeable and experienced in this field of technology, in view of the following disclosure of the invention and detailed description of certain preferred embodiments.